


First Date

by KarliMeaghan



Category: Hot Fuzz (2007)
Genre: First Dates, First Kiss, Fluff, Gift Fic, M/M, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-28
Updated: 2014-09-28
Packaged: 2018-02-19 01:53:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2370080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KarliMeaghan/pseuds/KarliMeaghan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nicholas plans the perfect first date with Danny, but their actual date is anything but.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Date

**Author's Note:**

> Fic for the wonderful and talented Eliza (http://elizakaze.tumblr.com/).

Nicholas had honestly believed that after he successfully asked Danny out on a date, his nerves would calm down, allowing him to plan the perfect night without a hitch. Instead, he was offered only a brief period of relief before he nerves revved up and went into lock-down.

In the months following the sea mine explosion, Danny’s rehabilitation, the trials, and the rebuilding of the station, Nicholas and Danny’s already close friendship had become even closer. Both sensed the other wanted more, but both were afraid to make the first move in case they were wrong. It took more months of very tenuously edging closer to the line that separated friendship and…something more…months of subtle flirting; brushes across the arm and hand and face with nervous fingers, under the guise of removing a speck of dirt or a loose eyelash; long pauses and staring across the table, waiting for someone to say something. By that point, everyone at the station was either waiting with just as much anticipation, or thought the two were already dating and just being secretive about it. The Andes tried to start a betting pool on how long it would take, but Doris put a stop to it.

Finally, after a familiar Tuesday night at the pub where Nicholas and Danny drank just enough alcohol to have a nice buzz, but not so much that anything that followed would be forgotten or brushed off in the haze of the morning, Nicholas took advantage of the traces of liquid courage lingering in his system. They were stopped outside Danny’s flat, about to head inside for another night of movies and falling asleep together on the couch. Nicholas knew he had to ask Danny now, while he was outside and would not have to make an awkward and embarrassed exit out of Danny’s place if Danny said no.

“Danny, I really like you, would you like to go out on a date with me this Saturday?” Nicholas intended to say while gazing sincerely into Danny’s eyes.

“DannywannagooutSaturday?” is what Nicholas actually managed to get out, all the while staring at some vague spot past Danny’s left ear.

He needn’t have worried, as Nicholas now knew, but hindsight is always 20/20. Danny had beamed his brilliant smile at Nicholas, the one that filled his whole face and turned Nicholas’ insides into warm goo whenever it was directed at him.

“’Course I would,” Danny told him, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Again, in hindsight, Nicholas supposed it was.

They had parted only slightly awkwardly after that, Nicholas not wanting to try to spend a night sitting next to Danny and watching movies when they both knew what was really going on between them. He also really wanted to get home and plan his upcoming first date with Danny.

It was difficult to keep their date night from being too distracting during work hours. Danny just had to look at Nicholas with a twinkle in his eye and Nicholas would find his mind drifting to Saturday. He told Danny this one night at the pub, and Danny blushed.

“Made you turn off during work? Cor, I’m good!” he’d joked.

It was Nicholas’ turn to blush.

“Yes, you are.”

Now Saturday was finally here. Nicholas had spent the entire day on edge, planning for the date while at the same time checking his phone messages every ten minutes, sure that some calamity would arise that would pull Sandford’s finest off of their date and into the fray. That, or Danny would change his mind; Nicholas hated to admit it, but he’d much rather some act of high crime upset their plans than Danny backing out.

He was picking Danny up at his flat in ten minutes. They were driving to the nearby slighty-larger village of Newshire (Danny called it a “city”, but Nicholas had seen the population stats and insisted on the correct terminology). They had reservations at L’Eatery, a restaurant with rave reviews and a good-sized vegetarian menu. Following that, Nicholas had purchased two tickets to the evening show of the local Shakespeare in the Park performance. He had a blanket and some snacks in a picnic basket in the backseat; Nicholas figured even if the show was bad (knowing their record with Shakespeare plays), they could at least enjoy the lingering summer weather and each other’s company.

Nicholas pulled on his jacket, then did a quick last-glance at himself in the mirror. He had on a light blue shirt and dress jeans; Nicholas normally wasn’t a jeans person, but he wore them when doing gardening and Danny had once remarked that Nicholas looked good in them, so Nicholas had bought a nice new pair especially for tonight. He had resisted the urge to wear a tie to avoid coming across too formal. He and Danny were going out to have fun, after all; wearing a tie felt too much like how he dressed at work. 

After double-checking that he had his wallet and the tickets, Nicholas headed out. The setting sun glinted off the car’s clean windows. Nicholas had taken the car in to a service station the day before and probably paid too much to have it washed and inspected, but he’d rather that then have it conk out on him on the hour-long drive to Newshire.

Nicholas pulled up to Danny’s about five minutes early, and sat in the car wondering if he should stay in the car until the agreed-upon time, or if that would be lame to arrive too punctually, but also not wanting to show up too early or too late, and it didn’t matter anyway because Danny had already left the house and was pulling open the passenger door before Nicholas could make a decision. Nicholas mentally slapped himself.

_Calm down and don’t over-think every little detail_ , Nicholas over-thought to himself. He turned to Danny and smiled.

“Hey,” he said, trying to appear at least outwardly calm.

“Hey,” Danny replied, offering a little wave.

“You look nice.”  
“You look good.”

They said this at the same time and laughed, alleviating some of the tension. Nicholas meant it as more than just a compliment; Danny was wearing a white shirt with a black blazer and tan trousers. They all looked new, and Nicholas smiled a little to himself; he wasn’t the only one trying to impress. He started up the car and pulled out onto the road. The first few minutes were filled with Nicholas telling Danny where they’d be going and what they’d be doing. Danny smiled and nodded as Nicholas filled him in.

“So, does that sound good?” he asked at the end.

“Yeah, sure,” Danny replied. Nicholas didn’t know what to make of that; Danny could be very easy-going, and Nicholas suspected he could’ve told him anything and Danny would’ve replied with “Yeah, sure.” Then Danny added, “Hope their am drams are better than ours.”

Nicholas grinned.

“Not a high bar to reach,” he commented, and Danny laughed in agreement.

Nicholas was about to ask Danny if he’d ever been to Newshire before, when his car made a noise. Not a good noise, or the kind that goes away with a quick thump on the dashboard, but the kind of noise that said “Yep, you paid too much money for that inspection.” The “Check Engine” light came on and the engine started skipping as Nicholas reluctantly pulled the car to the side of the road.

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” he said, both for Danny’s sake as well as his own. He popped the bonnet and stepped out of the car. “Just a loose wire or something. I’ll check it out; you stay here.”

The engine was thankfully not steaming or on fire as Nicholas’ suddenly wild imagination envisioned. However, the oil line was dripping and, without thinking, Nicholas unscrewed the gasket. Immediately oil started spraying all over, and Nicholas had to shield his face with one hand while he quickly screwed the top back on. A moment later, Nicholas had fixed the problem with the engine, and oil was no longer dripping inside. Outside, however, oil was dripping off Nicholas.

Muttering a string of curses that would’ve paid for the church roof in one go, Nicholas slammed the bonnet down, then flung his jacket off and unbuttoned his shirt, aware of Danny watching from inside the car. Nicholas held up one hand to stop Danny from coming out; no reason they should both be a mess. Nicholas wiped his face off on the inside of his shirt, soiling both sides, then opened the boot of the car and fished around for something, anything, to wear over his undershirt. He knew he had something in the boot for just such an occasion though he couldn’t remember –

“Ah,” he said as he pulled out the shirt he had stashed behind the picnic basket. Strike one, it was a t-shirt. Strike two, it was wrinkled. And strike three, it had the Sandford Runners logo on the front. But it was all he had. Nicholas shoved his ruined jacket and shirt into the corner of the boot, then reluctantly slipped on the t-shirt. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, then returned to Danny.

“So…everything alright?” Danny asked, trying not to let on how much he’d seen. Nicholas nodded.

“Had to make a slight wardrobe adjustment, that’s all,” he replied as he pulled the car back out onto the road. He breathed a sigh of relief as the engine purred and the “Check Engine” light remained off. He tried to put the incident behind him; no use letting one little rough patch ruin his evening with Danny.

“I’m not my best with cars,” Nicholas admitted after a moment, feeling rather silly.

Danny laughed.

“We all got at least one thing we ain’t good at, Nicholas,” he replied. “In my case, loads of things.”

Before Nicholas could cut in and correct him, Danny continued.

“This one time when I was a kid, I was climbing on my dad’s car and I fell and broke the wiper off.”

“Why were you climbing on his car?”

“Cuz there was a bird’s nest in the tree branch above it and I wanted to see if there were any little baby birds,” Danny explained. “Thought it’d be easier to climb on the roof of the car than climb the tree. I wasn’t hurt, but I tried to fix the wiper so’s Dad wouldn’t find out. Got a clothes hanger and some tape and thought I’d done a pretty good job myself.”

Nicholas tried not to laugh, but couldn’t help the small smile playing on his lips at the image of little Danny performing some very amateur auto repair.

“’Course the next day it rained, bein’ Sandford and all, and Dad had to leave in a hurry to get to work. Turned on the wipers – well, the wiper and the hanger – and you could hear this horrible screeching even from inside the house. The hanger made this big scratch on the window and Dad was furious. Made me do chores all summer to help pay for the replacement.”

Danny went quiet for a moment, and Nicholas worried that he was thinking of his dad. From the stories Danny told about his trips to visit Frank in prison, the old man was stubbornly refusing to admit he’d done anything wrong. He blamed the whole thing on Nicholas and his “meddling”, and was disappointed that Danny continued to spend time with his partner. Nicholas couldn’t imagine how enraged Frank would be when he learned how close he and Danny were actually becoming.

“I spent two months delivering papers, cleaning gutters, mowing lawns,” Danny finally continued. “I was half-way to my goal when mum surprised me with the rest of the money; told me a boy needs his childhood.”

“She sounds like wonderful person.”

“She was. Kindest person I ever knew.”

“You’re a lot like her.”

Danny blinked a few times, then smiled.

***

They pulled up to L’Eatery almost right on schedule. Nicholas was disappointed to see how bland the restaurant looked from the outside. The sign was small and one of the lights had burnt out so it looked like it said “L ater.” There were dying flowers in the pots by the door, and a nearly overflowing trashcan on the patio was giving off an awful stench. Nicholas had expected to see people lining up out the door, but when they entered, the restaurant was almost empty, save for an old man sipping soup in one corner, and three teenagers sitting around a table with their iPhones out.

A young woman who looked like she’d rather be anywhere else but here greeted Nicholas and Danny a moment after they entered. Nicholas began to explain that he had a reservation, but the waitress laughed before trying unsuccessfully to pretend she hadn’t.

“We don’t do reservations here,” she explained as she led Nicholas and Danny to a table by the window. She handed them each a menu, took their drink orders, then left.

Nicholas was baffled. He knew he’d phoned this restaurant and made reservations; he’d been on hold for 20 minutes before he got through. A quick scan of the menu confirmed that this restaurant could not have been the one he looked at online; that or there was some very flagrant false advertising going on at L’Eatery.

“I’m sorry, Danny, I don’t know what happened,” Nicholas said, scrubbing at a stain on the menu that was covering the price. “This was supposed to be a nice restaurant.”

Danny looked up from his menu and shrugged.

“It’s fine, Nicky,” he replied. “Food’s food, yeah? Long as there’s something we can both eat, it’ll be good. It’s the company that’s important.”

Danny smiled and Nicholas felt some of the guilt ease away. The waitress returned with their drinks, then took their orders. Nicholas ordered a garden salad and soup, while Danny got a burger and chips. Nicholas expected they’d have some time before their food came back out, so he turned back to the topic of the restaurant. While he talked, Danny had his phone out.

“It’s just…I wanted this night to be special,” Nicholas explained. “It’s our first date.”

“Yeah, but first dates aren’t always perfect,” Danny replied, scrolling through something on his phone. “Hey, is this the restaurant you was looking at?”

Danny held out his phone and Nicholas saw the very website he’d visited before making reservations. The fancy sign, the well-dressed wait staff, the menu with vegetarian options, it was all there.

“Yes, that’s it exactly!”

“Ah,” Danny replied, pausing. “Well, it does exist. ‘Cept it’s called L’Eatery while according to the menu, this place is called Le Eatery. And it’s on the other side of town.”

Nicholas felt his mouth drop open.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” he replied, before forcing himself to calm down. “Well let’s go, quick –”

“It says if you’re late for your reservation, they give your table to someone else.”

Nicholas muttered something dark and tried not to bang his head on the table. When he looked up, Danny was smirking.

“What is so funny?”

“You. Worryin’ so much,” Danny admitted. Before Nicholas could react, Danny had reached over and was holding his hand. “I like bein’ with you, wherever we are. Coulda gone to McDonald’s and it would’ve been lovely.”

Nicholas blushed and Danny laughed as Nicholas’ ears took on an interesting shade of pink. A moment later, their food arrived. Nicholas tried not to let the unappetizing appearance of the food put him off, but he couldn’t help notice the wilted quality of the lettuce and the watery texture of the soup. He took a bite of the salad in hopes that appearances would be deceiving; they weren’t. Danny had a similar disillusioned expression after taking a bite of his burger.

“It’s not very good is it?” Nicholas asked after a few more bites. Danny paused, then reluctantly nodded.

“The chips’re all right though,” he added, pushing the plate towards the middle of the table. Nicholas didn’t usually like chips, but compared to what he had been eating, they were delicious. The two ended up sharing the chips and leaving the rest of their food untouched. Nicholas promised Danny he had snacks in the car which would surely rival whatever creations this restaurant tried to offer, so they skipped dessert and got the cheque. Nicholas waved away Danny’s offer to split the bill.

“I asked you out, it’s my treat,” he told Danny, pulling several bills from his wallet; at least the food was cheap. “You can get the next one,” he added without thinking.

“Definitely,” was all Danny said, giving Nicholas a knowing grin. 

Nicholas wanted to kiss Danny right there, but he resisted. Their first date might not be going swimmingly, but he was damned if their first kiss was going to be over a plate of moderately-good chips in a dirty, disappointing restaurant. Their first kiss was something Nicholas wanted to look back on fondly, not having to edit out certain elements to make it more enjoyable. Danny deserved better than that.

***

Despite their meal, they left the restaurant in higher spirits than when they’d arrived. The car started up without any problems, and Nicholas dared to hope that the latter portion of the evening would be leagues better than the than former. They arrived at the park with time to spare to find a good place to sit. Nicholas pulled out the blanket and picnic basket from the trunk, then turned around to find Danny holding his hand out. Nicholas blinked, then shook his head.

“It’s good, I’ve got this,” he insisted. Danny laughed and shook his head.

“No, you git,” he replied. He took the basket from Nicholas, freeing up one of his hands, which Danny then held with his own hand. A feeling of warmth spread through Nicholas as their fingers laced together, and he smiled shyly at Danny, which he hoped Danny could see in the moonlight because Nicholas brain couldn’t come up with anything to express how he felt for Danny at that moment. Danny squeezed his hand and Nicholas squeezed back.

They walked together, holding hands the entire way, until they found a spot on the ground near the middle of the audience. They spread the blanket out, Danny trying not to laugh as Nicholas meticulously tried to smooth out every crease and lump in the blanket. Finally Danny grabbed Nicholas by the hem of his shirt and made him sit down. Nicholas immediately started unpacking the basket, pulling out two slices of black forest cake and two small bottles of milk, then handed Danny a fork.

“Aw, Nic'las, my favourite,” Danny commented when he realized what type of cake it was. Nicholas knew that, of course. He always noted when Danny enjoyed a particular food; he kept a bag of Danny’s favourite crisps at his place for when movie night happened at Nicholas’, and Danny always kept a jug of cranberry juice in his fridge.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, watching the people sitting around them, and the dimly lit performance area. The warm summer air was finally cooling off, and as a light breeze blew over them, Nicholas shivered; the thin material of the t-shirt was not doing him any favours. Danny noticed this and before Nicholas could say anything, he’d slipped off his blazer and placed it over Nicholas shoulders. Nicholas thought he’d feel silly, as the jacket was twice his size, but again, that feeling of warmth came over him, and not just thanks to the jacket.

“What about you?” he asked Danny as he slipped his arms through the jacket’s sleeves. Danny shrugged.

“I got lots of natural body heat, Nicholas,” Danny replied. “Little thing like you could catch a cold in this weather.”

Nicholas tried not to be annoyed with that comment, which was easier after Danny saw the look on his face and laughed.

“If I get cold, we can just share body heat,” Danny added, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Nicholas laughed.

“Definitely,” he replied.

The light around the stage turned up, and the play’s director walked centre stage to welcome everyone. The play they were seeing was _Hamlet_. As the play began, Nicholas found he was watching Danny more than the actors on stage. He somewhat regretted taking Danny to see such a violent, death-filled play; he would have preferred to see _Twelfth Night_ , something that hit a little less close to home, but it wasn’t showing until the following month, and he didn’t want to wait that long to go out with Danny. He realized now he could have simply chosen a different activity for them to do on their date, but for his part, Danny seemed to be enjoying the play; when the lights dimmed for intermission, he turned to face Nicholas, grinning.

“This is loads better than anythin’ our am drams could put on,” Danny remarked.

“It is,” Nicholas agreed. “Maybe next time we can see something happier though. Actually, next –”

He was cut off by a low rumbling noise that seemed to come from all around them.

“What’s that? Their audio malfunctioning or summat?” Danny asked, looking around. People nearby were doing the same, though some were gathering their things and heading to the car park. Nicholas closed his eyes and begged fate to stop screwing with his plans.

Fate told Nicholas to jog on, and a moment later, the skies opened up and it started to pour.

Everyone around them was scrambling to grab their things; Nicholas threw their dishes into the basket, while Danny picked up the already-soaking wet blanket, then the two beat a path towards the car. Nicholas didn’t know why they bothered rushing, they were already soaked.

They finally got to the car after dodging around tens of other similarly escaping audience members, then Nicholas fished around in his pockets for the keys while Danny held the blanket over their heads as if it would keep them dry. When both pockets came up empty, Nicholas realized he was still wearing Danny’s blazer, not his own jacket. He’d put the keys in his jeans’ pocket, but now the denim was so soaked, it was sticking together and his wet fingers were having difficulty prying the pocket open.

Nicholas supposed he should’ve felt grateful that he hadn’t seen any lightning; knowing his luck, Nicholas would have been struck by it. Twice.

But Nicholas didn’t feel grateful. He felt upset. He felt angry. He felt disheartened and disappointed, and most of all, he felt guilty. Even though the logical part of his brain, the part that usually spoke the loudest, knew he wasn’t to blame for the weather, or for most of the bad luck they’d had that night, he couldn’t let go of this feeling that he’d let Danny down. First dates may not always go perfectly, but theirs was going to hell. He banged his hand on the car door in frustration.

“Nicky, hey, it’s alright,” Danny said, trying to calm Nicholas down.

“It’s not alright,” Nicholas replied in a choked voice; oh God, he was going to cry, what a perfect way to end the evening. He wiped his face on his sleeve, which did nothing to help dry it, then looked at Danny. “I’m sorry. I just…I wanted to this night to be perfect. We’ve waited for so damn long and now…the car, the restaurant, the weather…fuck, we didn’t even get to the see the end of the play –”

“That’s okay,” Danny cut in. “Read it back in school. And we can always rent one of the movies–”

“That’s not the point,” Nicholas replied. “Danny, I know you said first dates don’t always go perfectly, but this one didn’t even go semi-okay.”

“Aw, that’s not true,” Danny said. “Things might not’ve gone as planned, but the most important thing is we’re here together. That’s all I need.”

Nicholas stared at Danny, as rain poured all around them and the blanket dripped steadily on their heads. He was soaked and Danny was soaked and so much of the night had been a cock up, but standing here with Danny, he had to admit, he was right. His mouth quirked up in a smile and before he’d even thought about it, he was leaning in, but that was fine because Danny was too.

If he’d had to plan a perfect first kiss, it probably would have gone off as well as his perfect first date. But this kiss was just that. Danny’s lips still had a faint trace of chocolate on them, which matched Danny’s sweet personality to a T, and as their kiss deepened, the noises around them seemed to fade away. Danny’s hands were still holding the blanket over them, but Nicholas’ were free to wind themselves around Danny’s waist, pulling them in even closer together.

When the pulled apart, it was only because they needed to breathe, and also because the blanket was getting too heavy for Danny to hold up. Danny set the blanket down beside the car, then tried and failed to wipe some of the rain from his eyes. Nicholas finally got his hand in his jeans’ pocket and pulled out the keys, then eagerly unlocked the car doors and got the engine started so they could warm up and dry off in the vehicle. As they watched the rain patter against the car window, Danny looked at Nicholas.

“That was brilliant,” Danny said. “Always wanted to kiss someone in the rain.”

“Is it still raining? I hadn’t noticed,” Nicholas replied.

A beat; then Danny’s eye widened.

“Nic'las, did you just _quote a movie_?” he asked, looking even more amazed than before. Nicholas tried not to laugh.

“ _Four Weddings and a Funeral_ , it’s a classic,” Nicholas replied, grinning at Danny’s astonishment. “I have seen some movies, Danny.”

“Yeah, but not that one, not with me.”

“Well maybe we should change that.”

“Yeah, next date!” Danny exclaimed. “So…you doin’ anything tomorrow night?”

The End


End file.
